macerate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb separate into constituents by soaking
  2. verb become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking
    • the tissue macerated in the water
  3. verb soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result
    • macerate peaches
    • the gizzards macerates the food in the digestive system
  4. verb cause to grow thin or weak
    emaciate; waste.
    • The treatment emaciated him

WordNet

Mac"er*ate transitive verb
Etymology
L. maceratus, p. p. of macerare to make soft, weaken, enervate; cf. Gr. to knead.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Macerated ; present participle & verbal noun Macerating
Definitions
  1. To make lean; to cause to waste away. Obs. or R. Harvey.
  2. To subdue the appetites of by poor and scanty diet; to mortify. Baker.
  3. To soften by steeping in a liquid, with or without heat; to wear away or separate the parts of by steeping; as, to macerate animal or vegetable fiber.

Webster 1913